CH 117

“….”

Her mind went blank.

Serdel was so lost for a while.

The memories of the dress were short after her mother was taken away by men in black outfits.

With the help of the knights released by the Count, the disguised corpse was placed in a coffin and arrived at the mansion in the capital.

Cartal’s face was so shocked that she couldn’t even feel sadness on it, and Redan turned his eyes away quietly. And Addis’s screams, which she let out like a madman, were still echoing in her mind.

“Dell. What do you think—? Is my mother alive?”

[…Uh… Hmm… I think she’s alive?] 

Dell slipped his head down.

“It doesn’t make sense. So, who is the mother I met in modern times? What the hell did I see?”

She’s confused. 

She was dizzy as the situation continued where there was no definite answer.

Serdel lowered her head and looked at the blood-stained dress.

She even looked into the memories of the broken accessories and the shoes with the heels out, but the content that unfolds was the same.

How should she interpret this?

Even though he took her alive, the man in the mask said, ‘Here, you, can’t, die.’ 

In other words, it meant that there was another place to die.

“Ha—”

What’s that? 

Serdel, who covered her face with her hands, fell on the floor.

With her mother’s death, it was very scary to try to come up with theories while holding on to a thin thread of hope.

[Nuna… Are you okay…?]

Dell tapped Serdel on the knee with his paw.

However, she couldn’t respond. Serdel’s brain was already overloaded.

She couldn’t calm down no matter how much she tried to calm herself.

Her body trembled endlessly.

She didn’t even know what kind of spirit she had in order to get out of the secret room.

She opened the door right after she reached the bookshelf.

Blenn was waiting in the hallway.

“I’m worried about Lady—”

Serdel gave him the set of keys she was holding while her eyes grew wide with despair.

There were many locks to fill. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like she was in the mood to finish it all. 

“Please take care of it.”

After she left him, she first walked out of the annex and stood for a moment looking up at the foggy sky.

The rain had stopped before she knew it.

“…Lady.”

Monem approaches her. 

Her face looked completely worn out.

“As expected… The memories…”

Serdel supported her as she stumbled.

“Don’t fall down. Don’t fall, Monem. How long have you been waiting here?”

The soul was dragged into the phenomenon unfolding from the past and stayed for quite some time.

It seemed that she had to figure out first.

“…I haven’t been waiting for long. I’m fine.”

Monem’s lips, which she said were fine, were blue. Maybe she misunderstood her because she was worried about her.

“How long have you been waiting?”

Serdel’s voice grew stronger.

“…About four hours…”

It was fortunate that not so much time had passed.

Well, it only shown in a very serious case.

‘Because I wasn’t stuck in the whole memory.’

“What about the Butler? Is he come to his sense?”

“…Yes.”

“What about father? Did you report him?”

“…I haven’t told him the situation yet. I think I’ll have to wait for the Lady…”

Serdel nodded and took the lead.

Then Monem quietly followed.

Standing in front of the Butler’s bedroom, Serdel looked at the door.

The first thing she saw was the lock.

“Ah, please come inside.”

Monem, who was watching, quickly opened the door.

“Lady—”

The butler, who was sitting on the bed, and the head maid, who was wandering around, saw Serdel and knelt on the floor.

The butler’s body trembled especially badly.

“Both of you get up.”

“No, Lady.”

“Get up. It’s not a sin to be sick.”

The butler didn’t move at all, unlike the maid who got up.

In the end, Serdel came forward and raised the butler herself. Tears flowed endlessly from the corners of his wrinkled eyes.

“I’m sorry, Lady. I’m really sorry. I should have been more alert… Because of me, because of me…”

She thought she should calm the butler down for now. So Serdel sat him in a chair and held his hand.

She remembers holding the butler’s hand often when she was young. 

He was a kind and loving grandfather and a good friend to young Serdel— no, to her as a child. 

The person who taught her how to write was also a butler.

“Madam— a month before she passed away, she often told us to take care of the family and the Lady.”

It was then. 

Monem came forward and spoke as if she was going to tell the truth that she was curious about.

“She said we were the only ones she could trust—especially Lady will have the hardest time, so she asked us to take good care of you. At the time, we laughed and joked about it, so we all accepted it without any tension.”

Monem’s hands trembled. 

She grabbed her skirt to calm herself down.

“On the day of departure, the Lady cried and told Madam not to go because something bad was going to happen— I only knew it when I caught you. Something ominous might happen. So I stood there and tried to stop—”

Her eyes probably signaled her not to do that.

“Madam already knew that. What will happen to you. When she left, I pressed down on my uneasiness, arranging your bedroom with an anxious mind—”

Monem paused and pulled out old letters from the pocket of her apron.

Each letter was written by her mother to Monem, the head maid, and the butler, and the contents of each letter were different.

“She asked me to stand behind the family and support the Count. She asked the head maid to make the Young Master a meal with warm tea at dawn so that he wouldn’t go hungry after wandering for so long.”

“…For me, she asked about the Lord.”

The butler raised his head.

“She thought Lord would be seriously hurt, and he would lose his composure because he had to deal with too much—in fact, the Lord couldn’t sleep properly for several years. He woke up frequently even when he was sleeping. Especially—”

The butler wiped the tears away with his sleeve as he tried to swallow the feelings that were choking him.

“When the Lady was seriously hurt and didn’t wake up for a while after getting medical treatment, he almost went crazy.” 

Serdel closed her eyes.

She tried to hold it in, but in the end, tears flowed again. She doesn’t know if she’s upset or sad.

‘I don’t know anymore.’

If there was any notice.

If she had known something in advance, she might have figured out that she was the real Serdel.

It wouldn’t have been this hard.

Still, it was time to decide, rather than being crushed by the truth.

When the head of the family was away, the successor was like the head of the family.

At times like this, she had to be stronger.

“…Butler, you need to rest.”

“I know. I know I’m in a bad condition. But not yet. I can’t— I can’t rest yet. Please, please.”

She expected it to come out like this.

It was not loyalty that would easily be withdrawn just because someone told him to resign. If he had, he wouldn’t have been hiding his pain.

“…I’ll tell my father when I get a chance.” 

“Lady—”

“Instead, I’m going to convince him so the butler can keep working. I can’t just put a burden on Monem and the head maid. If you’re sick, you should tell me you’re sick. What is this? This is too harsh.”

The butler needed help when he couldn’t work. If she knew, she wouldn’t leave him in this condition.

“I’ll bury everything else that happened today. Don’t report anything to father. That I went to the annex.” 

Knowing that she has regained her memories, Cartal must be in pain.

“It’s an order as a successor.”

“….I will follow Lady’s order.”

The three people bow down. 

“You must have had a hard time today, so rest now.”

After saying those words, Serdel went to her office.

She sat at her desk and thought quietly for a while.

She didn’t try to sort out her confused thoughts. Rather, it seemed that she would fall into a deeper swamp and lose her cool if she did.

‘If I shake, everyone will fall apart.’

Her influence in the family has grown too much.

She couldn’t show her pain.

Moreover, she hasn’t been able to figure out who the enemy is that she thought she would be able to find out if she went through the secret door.

Cerdel clasped her hands and reflected on what her mother had told her.

‘Obviously, she told me to watch out for the Imperial people.’

She didn’t hear who to watch out for.

There were roughly figures that came to mind.

‘Emperor, Empress, and the 1st Prince.’

She swallowed her anger.

And two days later.

Cartal is back. 

With a face full of dissatisfaction, with the Lord of the Wizard Tower—.